The heaven and earth grocery story, by James McBride

 

I really loved this novel by James McBride about a diverse collection of people living in Pottstown, Pennsylvania during the 1930s and 1970s. The writing is very good, the plot is compelling, and it moves at a good pace. It starts in 1972 when a skeleton is found deep in a well, then the narrative jumps back to the 1930s to show how the skeleton came to be there. It's a lively and interesting story, so much so that by the end, I had almost forgotten the skeleton in the beginning until the plot leads the reader to see how it came to be there (and who it was). This was my Albany book club's July selection, and it led to a lively discussion.

The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

 

I have mixed feelings about this 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a nerdy second-generation Dominican American man who is highly intelligent but finds it impossible to land a date, much less intimacy with a woman. Oscar and his sister grow up in Paterson, NJ, but their family continues to have a connection to their mother's home and relatives in the Dominican Republic (DR). Oscar loves science fiction, gaming, and writing, but just doesn't fit in. His story is only part of the narrative, which veers from Oscar's challenges to his sister Lola's escapades as a runaway, his mother's trauma as a survivor of Trujillo's political purges, and Oscar and Lola's friend Yunior's inability to remain loyal to one woman. By the end of the book, I felt invested in the characters and wanted to see how it all played out for each of them, but there was a lot about the book that irked me and made it difficult to get through it, especially in the beginning. There is a heavy use of Spanish, too much to look up every phrase, so I ended up moving forward without understanding everything that was being said or implied. There are a lot of footnotes that explain DR history. While I found these interesting, pausing reading the narrative to read the footnotes was annoying. I would have preferred to have the history worked into the main narrative instead. I didn't mind the language and profanity, but the book was also incredibly violent, with scenes and explanations of torture. While this may represent the reality of DR history and what actually happened, I would have preferred not to encounter them in my fiction. In the end, I liked the book more than I disliked it. It's worth reading just for the history alone.

Blue: A history of postpartum depression in America, by Rachel Louise Moran

 

Moran’s (history and women’s studies, The Pennsylvania State University; Governing Bodies: American Politics and the Shaping of the Modern Physique) deeply-researched and well-written examination of postpartum depression in America reveals how both the medical profession and society’s understanding changed over the past century from a dismissive depiction of it as “baby blues” to the current awareness of it as a medical condition that can be treated. Moran paints a vivid picture of the reality of postpartum depression in many women’s lives, using real women’s stories that led to activism and advocacy during the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The increased recognition that depression received during the 1980s helped bring attention to postpartum depression, but media focus on postpartum psychoses that resulted in infanticide confused the issue. Grassroots organizations that advocated for education and legislation helped to raise awareness of the phenomenon and educate medical professionals about the broad range of postpartum mental health issues, including methods of treating them. Their efforts further resulted in federal and state legislation supporting education and screening options for women suffering from postpartum depression. VERDICT Moran breaks new ground with this invaluable first of its kind history.

 A version of this review has been published by Library Journal here.

Famous American Poems

I really enjoyed this small collection of 16 poems by twelve authors. Many of them were familiar from my school days (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride," Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven," and Julia Ward Howe's "Battle-Hymn of the Republic." Others were new to me, such as a selection from John Greenleaf Whittier's "Snow-Bound," which I liked a lot. This is a 1962 publication of London's Vista Books; I can't remember how I ended up with this book, but I've had it forever. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

The crocodile bird, by Ruth Rendell

I loved this novel by Ruth Rendell. It's the story of 16 years old Liza, who has been kept isolated on the estate where her mother works. With a deep knowledge of literature and languages, she knows very little about the outside world. This begins to change when her mother is arrested for murder, and Liza runs off to be with the estate's gardener, with whom she has fallen in love. Over the next several months they live in his caravan working odd jobs, and she tells him the story of her life. As the tension builds, she begins to feel controlled by her boyfriend and she tries to think of a way out. Does she follow her mother's path, or forge her own? Very suspenseful and very well written.
 

The burning edge, by Rick Mofina

This is a fast-paced thriller that follows an armored-car heist, the FBI lead on the case, a seasoned reporter, and a key eye witness to the crime. It's the fourth in a series that focuses on the reporter, Jack Gannon; I really enjoyed this book, although I didn't read the first three in the series. It's a great diversion and a quick read.
 

The night we lost him, by Laura Dave

 

This was an enjoyable and intriguing novel about a woman whose semi-estranged brother drags her into an investigation into their father's death, which had been ruled accidental. As they begin to look closer at the circumstances of his fall from a cliff near his home, his death begins to look more and more suspicious. While there are no big, dramatic, climaxes here, there is a slow building of an understanding of many things their father kept from them, and an ultimate discovery about what really happened on the cliff the night he died.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

 

I read this book decades ago and I was surprised by how much of it I had forgotten. I read it this summer for my September local book club meeting for which we are reading both Huck Finn and James, the new novel by Percival Everett. I have to admit that while I like Twain's writing, I was put off by the stupidity of so many of the characters (almost everyone other than Huck and Tom). I don't remember that grating on me as much when I read it as a teen, but I guess my perspective has changed.